No. 1 Florida State Downs Clemson, 5-3

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 1 Florida State defeated Clemson 5-3 to take two of three from the Tigers in front of 2,472 fans at Dick Howser Stadium.

The Seminoles, who had their 21-game winning streak snapped Saturday night, improved their season record to 36-4 (14-1 ACC) and Clemson fell to 19-16 overall (3-5 ACC).

FSU took the early lead with three runs in the bottom of the third. Rightfielder Matt Diaz’ double scored centerfielder Chris Smith, who had reached on a walk, and third baseman Kevin Cash singled home Diaz and leftfielder Mike Futrell to put the Seminoles up 3-0 after three.

Second baseman Kurt Bultmann’s solo home run in the top of the fourth cut the FSU lead to 3-1 and Clemson knotted the score at 3-3 on a two-run single by catcher Brian Ellis in the top of the sixth.

Florida State responded in the bottom of the sixth and regained the lead as first baseman John Halliday doubled down the first base line and then scored on the game-winning RBI-single by designated hitter Chris Hart. Diaz gave the Tribe some breathing room with a solo home run, his 13th of the season, in the bottom of the seventh.

Chris Chavez (5-2) got the win in relief, going 2 2/3 scoreless innings without giving up a hit. Chavez struck out four in the outing. Closer Mike DiBlasi came on in the ninth and picked up his eighth save of the season.

Left-hander Brian Adams (3-5) took the loss for Clemson after giving up four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Second baseman Marshall McDougall extended his hitting streak to 31 games with a single in the fifth inning. He is three shy of J.D. Drew’s school record of 34 consecutive games with a hit. Diaz finished the day 2-for-3 with two RBI and Mike Futrell was 3-for-3 with a run scored.